Privacy Deprived
by Flax Golden Tales
Summary: Set in squire years. Kel and Cleon are having a 'kissing fest', as Dom so charmingly puts it. Who interrupts them? None but Domitan of Masbolle! Third chapter: Dom calls in some advice.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **Yay, my first fanfic! –does happy dance– Please review! I'll try to finish the second chapter as soon as possible!

**Disclaimer: **Unfortunately, none of the characters in this fanfiction belongs to me. Otherwise, it wouldn't be called fanfiction. They all belong to the fabulous, glorious, goddess-of-a-writer, Tamora Pierce. You know you're jealous. At least, I am.

Privacy Deprived – Chapter One

"Good luck, milord," Keladry said politely and bowed deeply so that she saw Lord Raoul's sturdy boots.

Raoul absently ruffled Kel's shiny brown hair. "Don't call me that, Kel," he ordered genially. "It makes me feel old. And stand up straight, or else you'll get wrinkles in your tunic."

Kel straightened up and smoothed the newly made creases in her forest green and gold-gilded tunic. "Very good…milord," she said, an impish smile on her face and hazel eyes twinkling dangerously.

Raoul eyed Kel, eyebrows doing a little jig. "Don't be pert, squire," he scolded her, but the girl could tell that he was trying to conceal a chuckle. "Anyway, I don't think I'll need the luck. Lord Gentim was never one for jousting…in fact, I do believe that his arthritis made him forfeit a jousting match yesterday. But who knows?" With that, Raoul mounted his grey saddled warhorse with one fluid motion and galloped off. "Don't forget to cheer me on!" he called back. Kel grinned and waved.

The first – not including Alanna – female squire watched Raoul ride off until he was a mere speck against the clear azure sky. Then she turned around, back warming from the warm spring sun, and headed to her tent for a well deserved rest before her lord's jousting match against the frail and not to mention _old_ opponent, Lord Gentim. _Ah, now I can have a break and then I'll go and watch my lord joust, _she thought. She wove against the bustling crowd, who were all headed for the jousting field, until she found her homely grey tent.

Just as Kel was about to open the flap of the tent and go inside, she heard her name being faintly carried over the shouts of the ladies and lords to her ears. "Kel, Kel!" She whirled around, eyes searching for the source of the call. It wasn't long before she found Cleon, whose bright curly red locks; stately height and waving hands were like a beacon in the crowd.

Keladry grinned and waved her arms in the air, signaling him that she had seen him. "Cleon!" she called. Finally the burly fellow squire was right in front of Kel. He wrapped her up with his muscular arms in a rib-crushing hug. Then he let her go (Kel gasped for air, putting a hand on her rib cage) and dropped to his knees.

"O Pearl Of All Squires!" he said, callused hands put together in mock-prayer, and eyes putting on a pleading look over the twinkling mischief. "I have missed you so, my lovely lily! Might I say that you look _ravishing_ today, queen of my dreams?" Cleon got up and bowed to her, holding out his hand for her to take.

Kel bowed over, laughing hard, and then put her hand daintily on his. They walked along the dirt road between identical rows of numbered tents, conversing as they strolled. "Stop doing that," she chastised him, though her words _hardly_ matched her teasing tone of voice. "I've missed you too, Cleon. But I don't look ravishing at all; I'm only wearing a tunic and breeches, dirty ones at that."

"But you don't need clothes to look beautiful, Kel," he counteracted in a serious voice. "You look pretty all the same, beautiful even."

Kel's heart melted at his compliment (she almost didn't get any acknowledgement of her gender anymore), but she hid it behind her teasing remark, "Why thank you, Cleon. I think you look pretty too." She grinned impishly.

Cleon played the hurt lover. "Oh Keladry, how can you hurt me so?" he cried, hands placed over his heart. Kel laughed, but her tinkling chuckle was cut off midway by Cleon, who pushed her in a dark cranny between two tents and pressed his lips gently against her slightly open ones. It hadn't been their first kiss, so Kel responded immediately and kissed back, winding her arms around his neck while he hugged her tight around her thin curving waist. Just as she was starting to get uncomfortable, their kiss was interrupted by a voice. "What a wonderful kissing fest," drawled the voice.

Kel and Cleon immediately sprang apart, fearful that their secretive relationship might get caught. A pink blush covered Kel's cheeks. "_Dom!_" she cried at the intruder, who was leaning against a wooden pole that was used to support Tent #34. She felt furious.

"And who are _you_?" Cleon inquired, a growl coming up his throat. Kel looked at him nervously, not wanting a fight to break out between the two men.

"He's Sergeant Domitan of Masbolle," she answered before Dom could. Carefully she stepped between the two guys, who looked like they might kill each other on the spot.

"Kel, I'm surprised with you," Dom declared loudly, "You could do much better than this oaf." In an instant, Cleon and Kel **both **were upon the handsome sergeant. The girl pinned his arms to the ground and Cleon did the same with his legs.

"Permission to pound him, Keladry?" Cleon grinned at her.

"Permission not granted," she replied frostily. The boy's face fell. "Masbolle, get out of here, and never, _ever_ insult my friends again."

"Really?" he retorted. Kel wondered what had possessed him to interrupt them. Was that _jealousy_ on his face? No, it couldn't be. Dom continued, "Are you sure he's really your friend, or maybe something more?" Just as the male squire held up a giant fist to punch him, he yelled in defeat, "Alright, alright! I don't want to get in a fight with Sir Half-Giant and the Lady Knight here." Cleon growled a little bit, fist still raised. "Kel, I'm not going to leave here until _he_ does. But I _am_ sorry for insulting your friends." Dom paused, as if debating to say something. Finally he added mischievously, "But may I still call my dear cousin Neal Meathead?"

Kel struggled to keep her calm face in place. She had to let a chuckle slip through her lips, but she immediately smothered it when she saw the hurt disbelief on Cleon's face. "Yes," she replied seriously, letting herself smile just a little bit. "If you're not going to get out of here by yourself, then _both_ of you, get out. Now."

"But Kel – " Cleon whined. Kel glared at him and Dom, then released the sergeant's arms and signaled them to go. They got up from the ground and left, glaring daggers at each other.

As soon as they had left her alone on the street, she sank to the ground and leaned against one of the tents, closing her eyes with fatigue. "Gods," she murmured, "I must be diagnosed with PDS – Privacy Deprived Syndrome. All I wanted was a break before Lord Raoul's jousting match – _Lord Raoul's jousting match!_" She sprang to her feet. "I forgot about his jousting match! Maybe if I run, I can get there in time…" Kel immediately started running along the now empty street.


	2. Chapter 2

1**Author's Note: **Oh, jeez, I'm so sorry I haven't updated in ages. Don't kill me! takes sister and uses her as shield Eh heh heh. Anyways, hope you enjoy the second chapter of Privacy Deprived! Please review!

Also, thank you so much to my reviewers for picking up my mistakes. It's greatly appreciated!

**Disclaimer: **No, no, and no, I do _not_ own any of these characters! And stop reminding me that I can never have them! sob

Privacy Deprived – Chapter Two  


"Congrats, milord," Kel beamed at Raoul, who stumbled out of the ring, horse's reins in one hand and sweaty helmet in the other.

He panted in return, "Thanks, Kel. Who knew the old man could put up such a fight? Now do me a favor and hang up my armor for me while I go speak with Lord Gentim, will you?"

Kel grinned. "He's still no match for you...as usual," she added. Raoul ruffled her hair again (_Gods, if he keeps this up, I might have to carry a hairbrush around, _Kel chuckled inwardly) as she continued, "And of course I will. I wouldn't be a good squire if I didn't." The giant lord smiled gratefully and peeled off his sweaty armor, carefully laying them onto Keladry's arms so that the reeking, soaked plush side was face up. She winced. "Pardon my saying, sir, but…you sweat a lot."

Ruefully he answered, "I know," and ambled over to his aged competitor. Kel could faintly hear him say genially, "Been working out lately, huh, milord Gentim?" gaining a laugh from both her and the old knight. Gingerly, her arms still piled high with armor, Kel headed to Raoul's tent.

"You do know that Lord Raoul's helmet is about to fall on your head, don't you?" a voice asked her, identity hidden by the stack of heavy armor.

Kel's eyes darted about, looking for the speaker. Finally she said with a wry smile on her face, "Why should I care if it falls and damages a few of my brain cells? I'm already insane enough as it is, imagining voices in my head."

A chuckle could be heard. "If you don't care, well, I do," the voice answered. Kel could feel her smelly burden lighten considerably, and could see the clear blue sky––not to mention two sparkling eyes staring mischievously at her.

"Dom!" All previously forgotten thoughts about his interruption earlier flooded back into her mind, making her blush deepen. "I don't need the help, thanks," she said harshly, memories making her reckless. She attempted to balance the armor on one hand and use the other to snatch the rest from Dom, who was standing there with a trace of a hurt look in his eyes. She ended up standing there with him, all the armor spilt on the dirt road.

"Oh...!" Kel cried, flustered beyond words. _Here I am, standing here with a guy who I used to have a crush on and probably still do, who also happened to see me making out with Cleon! Not to mention the fact that I just told him to back off, so he's probably going to leave now and _I don't want him to leave! _I just want everything to go back to the way it was, _all of those thoughts coursed through her mind, leaving as quickly as they had come. And_ I have to pick up all this disgusting armor, which is probably caked with dirt by now. _She pursed her lips and got down on her knees, gathering up the numerous pieces of armor, willing herself not to cry.

Dom stood stock still for a moment, watching her. _Why doesn't she want my help?_ he thought. _Because, you idiot, _he told himself, _you caught her making out with her secret lover. Dolt. _He immediately helped her pick up Raoul's armor too.

"I told you not to help me," Kel said softly, but didn't try to stop Dom again. Together they walked to Raoul's tent, silent in the midst of the loud, bustling crowd of lords, ladies and squires. Dom held the flimsy tent flap open for her and followed after her.

"Big on personalizing, huh?" he said sarcastically, grinning, earning a small giggle from Kel. Raoul's tent was almost exactly the same as it had been when they had moved in. The only sign that Tent #45 wasn't unoccupied were the rumpled sheets, the clothes in the dresser, and the little board above the dresser with hooks on it to hang up armor and weapons. "Here, follow me," she said, and dumped her share of the armor on top of Lord Raoul's dresser, with the exception of the helmet, which she began to hang up on one of the hooks. The sergeant followed suit.

A long silence ensued.

"So..." Dom said, as always, searching for a conversation. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Kel smiled, hanging up another piece of armor. "No."

It wasn't your usual response to that question. "Er...a gold noble?" Dom grinned, showing off his perfect white teeth.

"Hardly enough."

"_Two_ gold nobles?"

"I'll think about it." Kel was suppressing a laugh now.

"Aw, come on!" Domitan cried, throwing his hands up in the air.

Kel let out the laugh now. Dom relished it, it tinkled in his ears like merry sleigh bells on a Midwinter night. _I always liked Midwinter,_ he mused. Suddenly, the female squire's twinkling eyes became serious. "I was just thinking about why you...er, _interrupted_ me and Cleon," she said. He instantly snapped out of his Midwinter based reverie, featuring Kel laughing in a sleigh with him, her giggle tinkling along with all the bells. _Cleon_, he thought, _Cleon of Kennan. I might have to kill that boy. _"You could have just saw us and left. You didn't have to make a fuss," she continued.

"I couldn't let it go," he explained futilely, "I don't like that boy. He's using you."

Kel's eyebrows rose up in annoyance. "He isn't _using _me. He never asked one thing of me."

"You know you two will never be together," Dom pointed out. "He's of noble background. He'll be whipped into an arranged marriage sooner or later. Why encourage your romantic fancies when they'll never end happily?" he asked. Keladry froze, lips pursed in thought. Dom bit his lip. _Oh great,_ he groaned, _you probably hurt her feelings, again. Way to go, idiot._ As the squire continued to play statue, he apologized. "I'm sorry, Kel. Don't listen to me. Whatever you do with Cleon is none of my business. I just got...carried away, I guess. Maybe even jealous." Jealous. It wasn't a word Dom described himself as often. In fact, even when he was jealous, he never admitted it to himself, except on rare occasions.

"Jealous?" Kel unfroze and looked at him, a puzzled look on her face.

"Yes, jealous," he said, more to himself than to her. Dom suddenly twined his hands around her waist and pulled her close to him, then kissed her soft, slightly agape lips. He could hear her faint gasp as she dropped the armor and wound her arms around his neck. He kept one hand on her waist and used the other one to cradle her head, deepening the kiss more. _I thought pranking Meathead was fun, _he mused, _but this is a much better pastime_. Just as he was thinking how much he never wanted to break apart, Kel pulled away.

"I––I can't do this to Cleon," she babbled, hand on her lips and a confused look in her eyes. She fled the tent, hair flying out from behind her.

Dom groaned. "How can she do this to _me_? Just when I find out that I love her, she just _has_ to run away, thinking about her dear Cleon. Oh, I _really_ have to kill that boy now." He put his face in his hands. "And I _also_ have to hang up the rest of Raoul's armor. Oh, joy."

**Author's Note...yes, again: **Hehe, yay, the kiss finally happened. So, what do you think? Please review! You know how I always love reviews. Except for flames. Flames are _very_ bad. Tsk, tsk, no flaming, now. Eh heh. Okay, I'll let you go now.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **Woot woot! Third installment of Privacy Deprived. Sorry I haven't updated it in awhile. I've been busy, and I really didn't know what should happen next. But thanks to HappeeGoLuckee, I was inspired enough to start a new chapter! That's good for you. Review please, and I'll give you a banana phone! (Er...sorry, that's what I'm listening to right now. I don't even know why. Ring ring ring, banana phone... ding dong ding dong ding, banana phone! It grows in bunches...)

Anyways, yeah, review!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters––at least, I don't _think_ I do. They all belong to Tamora Pierce the goddess. I am merely a worshiper.

Privacy Deprived - Chapter Three

With a disgusted expression on his face, Dom gingerly picked up Raoul's breastplate and sniffed it, immediately regretting the action. "Augh! Doesn't Raoul know of a thing called deodorant?" he yelled rather too loudly––loud enough to attract a certain jousting lord on his way to the privy...

Lord Raoul entered the tent with the silence of a cat and seated himself on one of the chairs in the tent. "Well," he replied in a matter-of-fact manner, making Dom jump with a clatter of armor, "I tried it. I went through about five nobles worth of the stuff in one day."

Dom, panting wildly from the scare, snapped at him, "One would think that at your size, you would make more noise. But you're hardly any _normal_ half-giant, are you?" He glared at the casually sitting, calm knight with sharp blue eyes. "...my lord," he added in a meeker tone of voice.

"At least I don't sneak into tents to do chores," Raoul retorted. "Maybe if you didn't hang up my armor, you wouldn't have to complain about how I don't use deodorant. Ha, what do you say to that, huh?" he asked, very un-lordly. Dom had to smile at that. Raoul relented as well, face softening. "So, sarge, why are you here anyway? Kel's supposed to be doing that job, not _you_. Or did you decide to give her a favor?" He raised an inquisitive, wiggling eyebrow. (A/N: Haha, I love it when people do that...ahem, back to the story)

The handsome sergeant scratched the back of his head. "Well, about that, milord..." Raoul's eyebrow raised even higher. "...okay, um, well, Kel had to go..." Both of Raoul's eyebrows were up now. "...she had to go...go...go do something." Lord Raoul's eyebrows snapped together, his eyes filled with the look that seemed to say, _We both know you're lying..._

Dom broke. "Okay, fine, milord, but it's not pretty," he faltered and took a deep shuddering breath, continuing only when his companion stared at him like an owl. "Fine, fine! Lord Raoul," he continued, stalling as much as he could by giving a sweeping bow, "I...I kissed Lady Squire Keladry." Keeping his eyes downward, Dom waited for the backlash he expected to follow.

There was a pause. "Is that all, Dom? Get back up, then." Slowly, the young man unbent.

"What did you say?"

"I said, Is that all, Dom? Get back up, then," he answered patiently. "Look, Dom, we've all known you've had a crush on Kel ever since you met her––"

"What! Even I didn't know that till just now!"

"Well, Dom, you've never been that bright." Raoul grinned at him, who glared in return. "Okay, okay! Just kidding! Anyways. Well, what did she do when you kissed her?"

Dom sat on the floor with a plonk, and dropped his head into his hands. "I thought all was going well," he replied miserably. "But then she walked out on me. No, it wasn't cruel, that isn't Kel. She left because she said she couldn't cheat on Cleon."

Raoul nodded. "That's definitely Kel. Well, you should ask Neal."

Dom's head shot up. "Meathead?" he asked in astonishment.

Amused, Raoul said, "Yes, your cousin Nealan."

"You're kidding me."

"He _is_ her best friend."

Dom sighed. "You're right. Thanks, my lord!" He ran out of the tent, then came back and poked his head in. "Er...you can take care of that armor, can't you, old man? Thanks a lot!" He ran away again before Raoul could even open his mouth.

Sighing, he shook his head and ambled to the armor rack. "Kids," Raoul muttered, and picked up a piece of armor. He sniffed it. "Augh!" he yelled, exactly like Dom had. "Maybe I should put on more deodorant," he said to himself thoughtfully.

-

"You _what_!"

"I told you, Meathead, I kissed Kel," Dom explained impatiently for the third time. "Look, if you can't help me, I'll just go ask someone else..." He started to head out of the tent, only to be stopped by Neal's hand gripping his arm.

"I can't believe it," his cousin muttered. "I can't believe I'm going to help my cousin and my best friend get together..."

Dom brightened visibly. "You are?"

Neal sighed. "Yes, even though you are even more idiotic than I thought you were before for kissing Kel. You _know_ she wouldn't do that to Cleon, even if your kiss had sent a jolt to her heart. Maybe I should give you brain surgery..."

"No, no," Dom replied hastily. "I understand. You're right. I admit it. I was stupid for doing that. Just––just tell me what I should do!"

"'Kay, here's what you've got to do..." Neal trailed off.

"What! Tell me!"

"Only on one condition."

"Anything!"

"You have to call me 'Your Royal Ingeniousness' for a month, in public and in private."

Dom glared at Neal, who returned the stare with calm green eyes and a smirk on his mouth. Finally, Dom looked down, examining the wrinkles in his callused hands. "I'll do anything," he muttered quietly. "Even that ridiculous bargain. I––I think I love her, Neal."

Neal was astonished, for two reasons: a) that Dom admitted his love for Kel, but mostly b) that Dom had called him by his real name. He cleared his throat. "Okay, Dom, here's what you've gotta do..."

-

Kel sighed. "All I can say, Cleon, is that I'm sorry. I didn't know Dom would get so...so, defensive."

Cleon closed his eyes. "Defensive? Kel, I think he's in _love_ with you."

The girl placed her hands on his hips. "Dom? Dom the flirtatious? Dom, the man all court ladies swoon over? Dom, who always goes for the petite ladies in flouncy pink dresses? I don't think so."

He opened his eyes again. "You're right, Kel. I'm sorry." He placed his hands on her waist. "Please forgive me," he whispered, then kissed her.

Kel smiled beneath his lips and returned the embrace. She twined her hands into his black hair, dreaming about his blue eyes––_No! _she cried in her mind. _No! I'm with Cleon, not Dom, that flirtatious—that flirtatious idiot toying with me! No! _Kel broke away and turned from Cleon's concerned eyes, regaining her calm Yamani mask. She turned again.

"I think I'm a little tired, Cleon," she said to his questioning stare. "I'm going back to my room."

-

**Author's Note: **Wow. Not too shabby. What do you guys think? It's not much like Tamora Pierce's writing...but I hope you like it. Review, and again, I'll give you a banana phone!


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